Hello Everyone! - Although I have been an avid reader of the stories listed on the this sight for several months, I have not yet posted any of my experiences, even though I have several, from sleep paralysis, to sleep walking, to ghostly encounters. In this post, I'll cover my experiences with sleep paralysis:
The first incident with sleep paralysis occurred when I was just 12 years old. My little sister and I shared a large bed in our room. I woke up in the middle of the night to find our bedroom glowing in a strange green color. I lifted my head and looked around the room in awe. Our house had a remarkable view of the city lights and as usual, they were shining brightly through the window that night. It was then that I realized that I couldn't move. I tried so hard to move, but I couldn't budge any part of my body. I looked over at my sister and she was sleeping calmly. I became desperate and began to struggle with all my strength. I raised my arms towards my head and I could feel my finger tips touching my shoulders, but when I looked down, my arms were still laying at my sides. I was terrified!
I began to scream for my mom, but could barely let out a whimper. Not even my sister heard me. This event lasted five, maybe ten minutes. My only choice was to just lay there and hope this would pass. I drifted back to sleep and woke up fine the next morning. I'm 31 now, so this occurred 19 years ago and is still a very vivid memory to me.
My next occurrence was just a few years later, I was about 15 then and by then, we were living in a different house. This time, I was sleeping in my own bed when I woke up late one morning (the sun was shining brightly through my window). I was face up and I once again couldn't move. I felt a warm and heavy sensation on my back, like I was laying on one of those awesome back massagers. What I could also remember was the sound of mechanical voices all around me. I couldn't make out what was being said, but it was like many different voices talking to each other, but they definitely weren't human. I was more curious than terrified this time. This didn't last too long, maybe five minutes or so, then I drifted back to sleep and woke up fine.
I seem to remember having one or two other incidents similar to this near the same time frame. In one of those incidents, I was laying on my side, and I could feel that warm and heavy sensation on my back again with the extra sensation that there was someone there with me. I never saw anyone, just sensed it. I still have to admit, I wasn't too scared.
Years went by with nothing really to report regarding these encounters. Then, a few years ago, they started happening to me again. I had an incident when I was taking nap on my couch. I woke up and I couldn't move. I was extra scared this time because I'm a single mom and my young son was in the house. I prayed that there was nothing medically wrong with me and that this thing would just pass. Thankfully, it did. I didn't see any strange lights this time, nor the back sensation, nor the voices. I seemed to just snap out of it and woke up. A short time later, a few days later, this occurred to me again on the same couch and in the same position.
I'm pretty sure I've had one or two more encounters in my bedroom, but honestly, I don't remember much about them because they were boring, no levitating, no voice, no demons, no spooks yelling or anything like that.
My most recent episode was just two months ago. This time I was in my bedroom in the late afternoon and I was taking a nap, I think I may have been a little under the weather, because I'm not really a napper. I was lying face down this time and my head was laying on my right arm that was near the opening in the middle of my head board where I store books and magazines. I woke up with a jolt and found that I was not able to move. I sensed someone in my room with me, but I wasn't too scared this time. I actually found this episode amusing because I realized something very important (so please read on).
While I was struggling to move, I lifted my head a little and I saw my TV's remote control near my right hand and I struggled to reach for it (Why would I reach for the remote of all things? I don't know! It seemed like a great idea at the time! Ha ha ha). Anyway I managed to grab it and place it in the opening of my head board. I struggled to move the rest of my body now and I was barely able to. I really felt like I had come far this time, really succeeded in beating this strange occurrence by moving a few inches. I was exhausted from that and I drifted back to sleep and then woke up just a little bit later.
I went back to the living for awhile and then decided to retire to my bedroom for the rest of the evening. I went to grab the remote control from where I placed it during my little incident only to find that it wasn't there! It was on the other side of the bed and on the top of the headboard exactly where I had put it before I had taken my nap. This proves that I was dreaming when this incident happened to me because I saw the remote control laying on my bed right next to my hand and it was this remote that I swear I could feel in my hand. There was nothing else in that headboard area that I could have mistaken for the remote control. It felt so real, but I know in my mind it was just a dream.
Now that you've read my stories, I'll let you in on my secret. A few years ago, I watched an interesting medical show on sleep paralysis. I was shocked because when they described all the nooks and crannies of sleep paralysis, I realized that it was exactly what I had experienced. Unfortunately for those people who were shown on TV, they experienced far worse than me, demons, aliens, levitations, all sorts of creepy things when they had episodes of sleep paralysis. I will admit that my experiences don't compare with theirs, but I truly feel that they are based on the same phenomenon: sleep paralysis.
I feel that we can choose what we see when we dream and have sleep paralysis episodes. I feel that what we see is based on our cultural upbringing, for example, a good friend of mine confided in me that he had his own experiences contain a black shadow that sits on his chest and suffocates him while he slept. He went on to tell me that in his Hmong (asian) culture, they believe this is an evil spirit that comes to suffocate you while you sleep if you've been too cocky. Once I told him that it was probably just sleep paralysis, he breathed a sigh of relief and hasn't had any more episodes.
So, while I was experiencing sleep paralysis in the last few years, I knew it was only sleep paralysis and the level of terror that I felt when I had an episode was a bare minimum. The mind is a powerful instrument and combined with our vivid imaginations, we don't need Stephen King novels or scary movies, just our own dreams to scare the snot out of us. My advice to those of you who suffer from these episodes is to be strong willed and if that doesn't work, start praying before you go to sleep! Take care and God bless.
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